Digital markets

Introduction to the metaverse In recent months, ‘metaverse’ has become a buzzword, featured in numerous articles and media reports, and has even been referred to as web 3.0, without a precise definition of what metaverse is being offered. However, the term is not new: it already existed in the 1990s, and in the 2000s computer games became widespread, in which users could live a second life with their avatars, buy virtual objects, territories and even advertising space, in a virtual world built for this purpose. Blockchain technology has given a further boost to these developments, making it possible to add value to virtual goods through tokenisation and to link the world of cryptos to these virtual worlds, allowing for real-time exchange and management of goods with real economic value. Legal issues in the metaverse There are a variety of legal issues concerning the metaverse, especially given that it is a meeting point for multiple technologies, requiring or linked to servers, hosting, software, platforms, hardware and other peripherals (e.g. VR glasses and haptic gloves for sensing virtual objects), content, graphics, maps, buildings, photos, interfaces, as well as blockchain for acquiring and registering tokenised virtual assets. This diversity also raises a host of legal issues ranging from intellectual property rights to data protection and civil law. In this series of articles, we explore the key issues concerning the metaverse, including:Part 1: What is the metaverse?Part 2: Trademarks and copyright, NFTs and civil law principles in metaversePart 3: Data protection challenges, the importance of cybersecurity, advertising regulation in metaversePart 4: Expected impact of the EU Artificial Intelligence Regulation, the metaverse as a workplace